How thimbles get out of round.

(Click on image to enlarge. )

The fastest way to send money?

Used on tape printer positions to cut off tape when gumming it down. A round thimble-shaped piece of nickel silver set on a flat polished plate, the edge of which is used as the cutter. Furnished in sizes #5 to 12 inclusive, thimbles being of different diameters and lengths. Plate 3/4" x 1 1/2", Ht overall -- 1".
[Excerpt from: The Western Union Telegraph Company Inside Plant Catalog of Apparatus, Material and Tools, July 1, 1929]

Finger Food

Now I know what to carve the turkey with!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Madoula's thimble

This is one of my favorite thimbles. It is silver with niello enamelling. I am told that the thimble says, in Arabic, Madoula on one side, and lady of the house on the other. I don't know when it was made; it had belonged to the previous owner's grandmother. I know, every "antique" thimble always belonged to the owner's grandmother, but I really believe this particular person, who was just happy to pass it along to someone who would love it. And I do. I just wish I could get a better photo of it.

I have seen many other niello-enamelled thimbles, but none like this. There are lovely Marsh Arab thimbles made as souvenirs around the time of the first world war depicting scenes from the marsh areas along the Tigris in what is now Iraq. There also silver niello souvenir thimbles from the Caucasus (Kavkaz) region in Russia/Central Asia. These usually have "Kavkaz" written in Cyrillic and various stylized motifs in black enamel, as shown below. There are more recent examples coming out of Greece and Turkey but they do not have the detail that the older ones have. And none are so lovely as Madoula's.

Blindspotjewelry Thimble

I found this extremely cool sterling thimble from blindspot jewelry at Etsy.
It's $180.00. Ouch!
Cool, but ouch!

I don't know who the actual artisan who created the thimble is, but I will update when I find out.

What the. . .? Fortune Cookie Thimbles??

OK. Apparently these are little thimble cookies one uses to dip into and taste yummy substances like Nutella (I would personally go for a more chocolatey concoction, but I digress . . .). I don't know what they're called or where one would acquire them. They look as though they would taste like fortune cookies, but, again, I dunno. More investigation is required.

Fit the Eighth (Hunting of the Snark)

The Vanishing

They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap.
They shuddered to think that the chase might fail,
And the Beaver, excited at last,
Went bounding along on the tip of its tail,
For the daylight was nearly past.

"There is Thingumbob shouting!" the Bellman said.
"He is shouting like mad, only hark!
He is waving his hands, he is wagging his head,
He has certainly found a Snark!"

They gazed in delight, while the Butcher exclaimed
"He was always a desperate wag!"
They beheld him--their Baker--their hero unnamed--
On the top of a neighbouring crag,

Erect and sublime, for one moment of time,
In the next, that wild figure they saw
(As if stung by a spasm) plunge into a chasm,
While they waited and listened in awe.

"It's a Snark!" was the sound that first came to their ears,
And seemed almost too good to be true.
Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers:
Then the ominous words "It's a Boo--"

Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the air
A weary and wandering sigh
That sounded like "--jum!" but the others declare
It was only a breeze that went by.

They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,
By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.

In the midst of the word he was trying to say
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away--
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

--Lewis Carroll

In Memoriam: Darren Bohan

Darren Christopher Bohan

29 September 1966 - 11 September 2001

Beautiful Place, Ugly Thimble

I think Zion National Park is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
This thimble, however, is kinda ugly.

Dependence and Independence

Morning Oregonian (Portland, OR),
24 August 1888, page 3, issue 8709, col. G.

If Paris Hilton can have an energy plan. . .

So can Thimble Psycho!

Tambour Thimble

Illustrations from: Encyclopedia of Needlework
by Thérèse de Dillmont

Sew in some thoughts of love for me.

The Daily (Chicago, IL) Inter Ocean,
24 November 1895; Issue 245; col C.

Rigolette trying to distact herself. . .

Rigolette cherchant à se distraire en l'absence de Germain

(Rigolette trying to distract herself during Germain's absence) Joseph Désiré Court.
Oil on canvas. Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen, France.

3rd Rock From The Sun: Green Eyed Dick

This is the episode with the thimble, or '"Turkish nipple armor." It's divided into three clips, which I've embedded here indivually. The thimble is at the beginning of the second part. There must be a more efficient way to put the videos into this blog than to have all three separately, but I'm a thimble geek not a computer geek, so I dunno. Anyway, for the whole episode, watch all three in sequence, top to bottom; for just the thimble part, see the first couple minutes of the second clip.

Tonto Natural Bridge thimble

This little thimble is available through the Arizona State Parks Gift Catalog website in either gold- or copper-tone for only $4.00 plus S/H. The web-weary can call them at either 1-888-498-0036 (from inside Arizona) or 1-888-498-0037 (from outside Arizona). They also have a similar thimble available for Yuma Territorial Prison. I like the idea of thimbles featuring prisons. It could be a collecting specialty. I already have one from Alcatraz. Are there any for Reading Gaol? Gitmo? Hmmmm. . .

Jane Chantler

The beautiful thimbles shown at left were all designed and wrought by specialist silversmith Jane Chantler of Jane Chantler Ltd, Clifford House, Brough, Cumbria, UK. They are but four of 25 thimbles featured on her website, all of which are made from heavy, hallmarked Sterling Silver and are priced from £56.50 to £71.00 (about US$111.00 to US$140.00). Each thimble featured on the website is also available in gold or platinum, as are her custom-designed thimbles or jewelry pieces.

Jon!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Jon Magazine - Thimble Collection
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Nonsense Thimble

From: Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets,
"Nonsense Alphabet No. 3," by Edward Lear.

Hooray, José!

From: The People (London), 20 Jan 2008:
STAR HOARDS: Which celebrities collect old tennis balls, typewriters, butterflies, pigs, thimbles, comics, coat hangers... and pigeon skeletons? A ROUND-UP OF THE ODD ITEMS IN A-LIST LOFTS. . .
YOU wouldn't guess he has a weird hobby, but Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks is an obsessive collector of vintage TYPEWRITERS. The Forest Gump star revealed his secret passion on the Jonathan Ross show last week. He scours the internet for rare examples and chats to other collectors on typewriter web sites. But he's not the only star who hoards odd items. RACHAEL BLETCHLY unearthed some strange celebrity passions...

JOSE CARRERAS: Thimbles
SPANISH opera giant Jose has a huge collection of rare thimbles - which cost a lot more than three tenners.